RILEY McGree is heading back to Teesside this weekend and will be assessed by Middlesbrough after suffering an injury setback while away with Australia this week.

Australia boss Graham Arnold confirmed after Thursday's World Cup qualifying win over Lebanon that McGree wouldn't be available to feature when the sides meet again on Tuesday.

McGree was forced off in the early stages of Thursday's game with a foot injury that required a protective boot. He's now left the Australia camp and is heading back to Boro where further assessments will take place.

It's not clear at this stage whether McGree has suffered a recurrence of the plantar fascia injury that ruled him out for two months earlier this season.

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His latest injury is a huge blow and major concern for Michael Carrick, with the midfielder showing signs in recent weeks of rediscovering his best form for Boro. He scored the winning goal in last week's win at Birmingham City and would be a key player in the final eight games of the Championship season.

There's more cause for concern for Carrick, with Boro still awaiting the results of a scan on Marcus Forss' hamstring injury.

Forss suffered the injury in the first half of Saturday's 0-0 draw with Blackburn and was forced to miss Finland's 4-1 European Championships qualifier against Wales on Thursday night.

Boro are now anxiously waiting to discover the severity of Forss's injury.

Carrick's side went into the international break on the back of a four-match unbeaten run, with McGree and Forss starting all of those games.

It would be a huge blow if Boro were missing one or both of the attackers in the final stretch of the Championship season, with Carrick's side clinging on to their hopes of a top six finish.

Boro are seven points adrift of the play-off places with eight games to play and resume action with a tough trip to automatic promotion chasing Southampton on Good Friday.

There was better news on the injury front before the break, with Carrick revealing that "one or two" of Josh Coburn, Hayden Hackney, Dael Fry and Alex Bangura could be ready to return after the stoppage.